After many months of (secret) negotiations, the
Director of Education Phyllis Dunipace announced that Fenstanton would be
demolished. relocated on a much smaller site and that the current site would be
used for an Academy. (This without any consultations on an alternative type of
school (eg Community school). We shall see!
The Council seems to be getting worried and
antiocipate opposition - they have circulated door to door letters on shiny
paper to local residents so as to get support for their scheme under the
heading of 'local schools for local people'. This of course was never the
concern when schools closed in the past so children had to travel.
There is the need for more local school places, but
not at the expense of taking primary school land from the Fenstanton community
nor by creating a new school in the area which is not the most urgent so that a
private sponsor can have an academy outside of community control |
Fenstanton Primary School is situated close to Tulse
Hill and educates a very diverse community. The staff are experienced and in
general meet the challenge like anywhere else.
Unfortunately, in its usual bungled wisdom, the Local
Authority has chosen to demolish the school and rebuild it on a smaller
site.
The children who attend are from neighbouring estates,
often without adequate play areas. The new site will be tiny and crammed from
the point of view of the children.
The only rationale is that the Abbotts Road site is
large enough for a proivately managed Academy, rather than a facility for the
local community |
